Stock feeding apparatus



Jan- 1, 1957 J. H. FRIEDMAN 2,776,048

STOCK FEEDING APPARATUS Filed July 19. 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.J'H/V h. FRIED/VAN Jan. 1, 1957 J. H. FRJEDMAN STOCK FEEDING APPARATUS 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 19, 1952 R/CHEKBx/Afwf/VENW j/ A T role/vensFEED CYL, .B

`Iam. l,y 1957 J. H. FRIEDMAN STOCK FEEDING APPARATUS Filed July' 19.1952 4 Sheets-$heet 4 wb@ so' l INVENTOR. JOHN H F/EDMA/V BY RICHEY,WAT%DGERTON8MCNNNY ULD CYLC ATTORNEYS STOCK FEEDING APPARATUS John HenryFriedman, Tiflin, Ohio, assignor to The National Machinery Co., Tiffin,Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 19, 1952, Serial No.299,883

8 Claims. (Cl. 203-127) This invention relates to stock feedingapparatus and more particularly to apparatus for feeding elongated rodor wire stock into metal working machinery. In the machinery of the typementioned, stock is fed to a shear and blanks are sheared from the stockand operated on by tool and die sets in the machine. It is necessarythat all sheared blanks be of the same length. In order to insureuniformity in the length of the sheared blanks, it has been proposed tointermittently drive a pair of feed rollers that advance the stockagainst a xed stock gauge, the motion of the rollers exceeding slightlythe desired length of the blank to be sheared from the stock, wherebyslippage occurs between the rollers and the stock after the latterengages the fixed stock gauge.

if the rollers are made to grip the stock rmly enough to insure positivefeeding, then the necessary slipping action imparts high loads on theover-running clutch and other mechanism associated with the feedrollers. On the other hand, if the rollers do not grip the stockpositively enough, short feeding will result.

An object of the present invention is to insure uniformity of stockfeeding without requiring slippage between the feeding device and thestock. This is accomplished by replacing the feed rollers with a pivotedlever mounting stock grippers that are not intended to and do not slipon the stock. The feed lever is retracted mechanically and advanced onits feed stroke by yieldable means such as a pneumatic cylinder. Thus,it is only necessary that the retraction stroke be made slightly greaterthan that necessary to feed the desired length of blank whereupon duringthe feeding stroke, the yieldable means will bring the stock against thestock gauge and hold it there without requiring slipping of the feedingmember relative to the stock.

It is a feature of this invention that a control means for the stockholding and stock feeding grippers are operated after the feed lever hasreached each of its extreme positions thereby insuring that the lengthof stroke of the feeder will be consistently uniform. This isaccomplished by incorporating in the mechanism what amounts to lostmotion means between the main driving shaft of the device and thecontrol mechanism for the grippers.

The manner in which these and other objects and advantages may beaccomplished will be apparent in the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a partial section taken on 2-2 of Fig. l with some partsremoved for purposes of simplification;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the control valves;

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the control valves;

Fig. 5 is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 3 but looking in the otherdirection;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on 6 6 of Fig. l; and,

Fig. 7 is a piping diagram of the installation.l

As best seen in Fig. l, the machine incorporates a nited States Patent Oframe member 1 apertured to receive rod or wire stock R which is fedagainst the stock gauge G. This machine may be a cold header or the likeof the type shown in the patent to Clouse 2,026,823 or in my co-pendingapplication Serial No. 663,569, filed April 19, 1946, and now Patent No.2,542,864. Bracket 2 is bolted to the machine bed for supporting thestock grippers and on a lower part of the bed is formed an extending arm3 which mounts by means of pin 4 the stock feed lever 5. In order togrip stock, an upper block 6 is mounted on the lever and is backed up byan adjustable set screw 7. Plate S clamps block 6 in its adjustedposition and the block is notched as at 9 for receiving the stock. Thisconstruction also appears clearly in Fig. 6.

The movable gripper block 10 is grooved as at 11 for receiving the stockand rides in a slot 12 formed in lever 5 with the block retained bycover plate 13. In order to open and close the grippers, link 14 ispivoted to block 10 as at 15 and carries a threaded stud 16 which restsin a pocket 17 formed in the operating lever 18. Lock nut 19 holds thestud 16 in its adjusted position against lever 18. Lever 18 is pivotedto arm 5 as at 18a. A stock straightening mechanism S is likewisemounted on the apparatus as described in my co-pending applicationSerial No. 81,514, filed March 15, 1949 and now Patent No. 2,646,102,such straightening apparatus including block 20 grooved as at 21 forreceiving the stock as described in my aforesaid application. Operatingarm 18 connects as at 22 to the piston rod 23 of the grip cylinder Awhich, in turn, is pivoted on the arm 5 as at 24.

The feed lever is mechanically retracted and elastically or resilientlyadvanced for feeding by the following apparatus. An eye bolt 25 ispivoted to the upper end of arm 5 as at 26 and is screwed to aturnbuckle nut 27, the other end of which receives an I-bolt pivoted toa bellcrank lever 28 as at 29. A right and left hand thread constructionis employed for the eye bolts whereby adjustment of nut 27 controls theposition of the feed lever 5. The bellcrank lever 28 is pivoted to thebed frame as at 30 and has an upward extension 31 and a horizontalextension 32. The upward extension connects to a piston rod 33 by meansof pivot 34, the piston rod extending into a feed cylinder B, pivotallymounted on the frame and serving to resiliently advance the lever 5 onits feeding stroke. The feed lever or arm 5 is retracted or withdrawnfrom the frame against the force of air in cylinder B which cylinder isalways supplied with air under pressure tending to move piston rod 33 tothe left, as seen in Fig. 1, during operation of the device. In order toretract -the feed lever 5, a vertical rod 35 connects as at 36 to thehorizontal extension 32 of the bellcrank 28 and the rod 35 is alsopivoted at 37 to a cam follower arm 38 which, in turn, is pivoted to theframe as at 39. A cam follower roller 40 is mounted on the follower. Acam support plate 43 is fastened to a shaft 44 forming part of the metalworking machine. This shaft is an oscillating one, oscillation of whichis timed relative to header slide motion by any means known in the artsuch as shown in the patent to Clouse 2,139,936.

In order to retract the feed lever, a cam is mounted on plate 43 havinga lift portion 45 and a uniform radius portion 45a for permittingover-ride of the cam after the feed lever 5 reaches its retractedposition. Also, carried by the shaft 44 is a bracket 46 that mountsmeans for operating control valves for stock holding and feed grippingair cylinders. The hub or plate 43 has an eXtension 47 connected to anadjustable link 48 for operating a stock straightening mechanism S asdescribed in my aforesaid copending application.

To hold the stock duringshearing and retraction of the feed lever, l'apair of grip blocks 50 and 51 are mounted on the frame of the machine.Block 50 is bolted to Y'avr/eroga bracket 8by bolts 52 and is backed upby `a lug 53 (as best 'seen in Fig. 2). Block -51 is slidably retainedin a slot 54 in bracket 2 by `a cover plate 5S. 'Ilhe block is slottedas at 56 to receive the end of an operating lever 57 having 'anextension 58and being pivotally mounted in the bracket 2 'as at 59. Thelever 58 connects to the piston rod 60 by pin 61 which rod extends intostock holding cylinder C pivotally mounted on an extension 62 of bracket2 by a pin 63.

The control mechanism for the feed grip cylinder A and the stock holdingcylinder C will now be described. The stock holding cylinder C is openedto exhaust by a lever system on arm 38 and is actuated to close thegrippers 50 and 51 by means of hub 43. An arm 64 extends from the camfollower 38 and is pinned as at 65 to an adjustable link'66. The linkterminates in a member 67 for operating a valve control linkage which isadjustably connected by means of rod 68 to a turnbuckle 69, the otherend of which connects to a piston disposed in cylinder 70. Cylinder 70acts as a yieldable relief should the parts be jammed when the cam 45lifts arm 38 and connected parts.

A valve V is provided for controlling the stock holding cylinder C (thecylinder appears in Fig. 2) such valve being operated by a combined snapaction, lost motion linkage. As seen in Fig. 3, the operating mechanismfor the valve V comprises a lever 71 Ihaving an extension 72 carrying apin 73 riding in slot 74 formed in rod 67. The valve is also controlledby an extension 75 which may be engaged by a roller 76 mounted on earnplate 46. Another extension 77 of the lever 71 is pivoted as at 7S to alink 79. The lever 71 also has a cam-like extension 80 having camsurfaces 81 and 82 thereon for engagement with a roller 83 mounted on apivoted link 84. The link 79 is slotted as `at 85 and actuates the lever86 by means of a pin 87 riding in the slot, lever' 86 being pivote-d tothe valve body as at 88 and having an extension that operates the valveplunger 90 by means of pin 90a. Spring 91 urges roller83 against camextension 80.

As seen in Fig. 3, the cam part 45a is under the roller 40 which raisesthe cam follower 38 and by means of the bellcrank lever 28 retracts thefeed lever 5. When the parts reach this position the snap action linkagefor the valve V, under action of rod 67, will be such as to position thevalve as seen in Fig. 3 which is the position wherein the valve V isinternally ported so that air pressure is released from the stockholding cylinder C to ready the apparatus for the feed stroke. When theshaft 43 moves in the other or feed direction, valve V is unaffected andthe holding grippers are released until roller 76 strikes lever 75 aftercompletion of the feed stroke whereupon the valve snaps to a positiondirecting air to the stock holding cylinder C for holding the stockduring subsequent retraction of the feed lever.

In order to operate the feed gripper control valve V1 to open the feedgrippers, a rod 95 is pivoted to follower 38 as at 96 and connects to aturnbuckle 97 which mounts rod 99 connected to a slotted member 100 thatreceives a pin 101 carried by one extension 102 of a multi-arm lever.This lever is pivoted to the support bracket at 103 and has anotherextension 104 for engagement by an adjustable set screw 105 carried bythe cam plate 46, which acts to close the feed grippers. Another leverextension 106 connects to valve operating lever 107 by means of a link108 pinned to extension 106 at one end as at 109 and is slotted at theother end to receive a pin 110 in lever 107. A cam extension 111 is alsopart of lever 102 and has cam surfaces 112 Iand 113 for engaging aroller 114 on a lever 115 pivoted to the valve support as at 116. Theroller 114 is urged against the cam 111 by a coil spring 117 connectedto the valve body as at 119. Lever 107 carries a pin 120 connected tothe valve plunger 121. Thus,it can be seen that this part of theapparatus is similar tothe other valve control linkage in that a lostmotion snap action is provided. .For example, when lever 104 isdepressed by screw 105 on hub 43, due to the clearance provided by slotin link 108, the valve is not operated until about the time that roller114 passes over the hump between cam surfaces 112 and 113 whereupon thespring 117 and lever 115 snaps the remainder of the linkage so as tomove the valve plunger to the right in the drawings to close the feedgrippers. The reverse action occurs when member 100 drops after the endof the feed stroke whereupon the end wall of the slot in member 100 onrod strikes pin 101 and snaps the valve in the other direction, that is,to the position shown in Fig. 5 which is the position that disconnectsthe yair pressure line from the feed grip cylinder A and opens thecylinder by means of an exhaust port in the valve to atmosphere, therebyopening the feed grippers.

A cycle of operation will now be briefly described. Assume that theparts are positioned as at Fig. l, which is the end of the feed strokewith the stock R resting against the stock gauge G. The hub 43 hascompleted its councr-clockwise (feed) motion and is ready to begin theclockwise or retraction motion. Cam follower arm 38 is down because cam45 has moved out from under roller 40 and roller 76 on hub 43 ywill havemoved valve V to the position wherein the :stock holding grippers 50 and51 are closed. Likewise, rod 95 (Fig. 5) will be down so that the feedgripper controlling valve V has been shifted so as to open the stockfeed grippers on arm 5 by exhausting cylinder A. As the hub 43 movesclockwise, cam 45 is brought under roller 40 and the ramp 45b lifts thearm 38 thereby positively retracting the feed lever against the force of.air pressure in feed cylinder B. During this motion, the stock is heldbetween jaws 50 and 51 of the holding gripper and feed gripper jaws 10and 11 are open to permit them to pass over the stock. Towards the endof the yretraction stroke, a constant radius portion 45a of the cam 45is brought under roller 40 and further rotation of the hub 43 in theclockwise direction as seen in Fig. l continues without affecting thefeed lever, which remains at its retracted position. However, thiscontinued motion of hub 43 brings set screw against lever 104 operatingvalve V1 (Fig. 5) to close the stock feed grippers while the arm 5 isfully retracted and before the feed stroke begins. Also, the rod 68controlling valve V (Fig. 3) for the stock holding grippers 50 and 51,is adjusted so that the final motion of the hub 43 in the retractdirection (clockwise in Fig. 1) snaps over the valve V to exhaustposition wherein the hold cylinder C is exhausted to the atmosphere andhold grippers 50 and 51 release the stock. Now, the stock is gripped inarm 5 and isfreed'from the stock holding grippers 50 and 51, all beforethe feed stroke is initiated. When hub 43 reverses (counter-clockwise asseen in Fig. l), roller 40 on arm 38, which is held against part 45a ofcam 45 by pressure in feed cylinder B, rides down ramp 45b on the camthereby lowering arm 38 and permitting feed cylinder B, through thelevers connected thereto, to advance the feed lever and the stock on thefeed stroke.

When the stock R engages the stock gauge G, further rotation of the hub43 has no affect on the feeding, and in order that the stock be firmlypressed against the gauge, there is a clearance indicated in dottedlines at 53a between arm 5 and stop 53. However, such further rotationof shaft 44 does bring roller 76 (Fig. 3) against lever 75 snapping thevalve V to a position wherein air pressure is applied to the stock gripcylinder C thereby gripping and holding the stock in its extendedposition. This action occurs before the cam 45 moves entirely off ofroller 42. When the latter happens, near the end of the feed stroke, thefinal dropping of lever 38 causes rod 95 to move down and snap valve V1to exhaust position wherein the feed grip cylinder A exhausts toatmosphere thereby opening feed jaws 10 and'11 while the stock is heldagainstthe gauge vin'preparation for thev retraction stroke. Anyclearance at 53a will now be taken up under force of air pressure incylinder B but this has no affect on the stock nor on the length ofstock fed by the apparatus. The stroke of the lever 5 is determined bythe height of cam 45 and adjustment of turnbuckle 27. Thus, it can beseen that a positively operated feeding device is provided whichincludes a yieldable means such as the air cylinder B for operating thefeed lever on the feed stroke thereby permitting a positive gripping ofthe stock and at the same time insuring that the stock will be firmlyurged against the feed gauge to provide uniformly sheared blanks. Thecylinder 70 (Fig. 3) is a safety over-load release to prevent damage tothe parts should the valve V become jammed, it being noted that thelever 68 is positively lifted by cam 45 for oper-ation of valve V. Sucha mechanism is not required for operation of valve V1 (Fig. 5) becausehere the lever 38 is moved by the feed cylinder B which acts as aresilient over-load release should the valve jam. By adjusting the cam45 and the turnbuckle 27, the desired stroke and position of the feedlever 5 :can be provided. Due to the resilient nature of the feedingaction, blocks 9 and 10 can be adjusted to provide any desired firmnessof grip during the feeding stroke, this being possible because noslipping between the feed grippers and the stock is required.

Having completed a detailed description of a preferred embodiment lofthe present invention so that others skilled in the art may be `able tounderstand and practice the same, I state that what I desire to secureby Letters Patents is not limited by said preferred embodiment butrather is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. Apparatus for feeding elongated stock comprising a frame having stockreceiving means therein, a stock feeding member, a first stock gripperon said member, means mounting said member for advancing toward andretracting from said frame, a second stock gripper on said frame, anoscillating shaft in said frame, a cam driven by said shaft, camfollower means connected to said feeding member for retracting saidfeeding member under action of said cam, an air cylinder connected tosaid feed member opposing the action of said cam for ladvancing saidfeeding member for feeding, first means driven by said shaft operablyconnected to said grippers for closing said first gripper and openingsaid second gripper after said feeding member reaches its retractedposition, and second means driven by said shaft operably connected tosaid grippers for opening said first gripper and closing said secondgripper after said feeding member reaches its advanced position.

2. -In a header, a frame having a stock receiving bore therein a stockgauge mounted on said frame, a stock feeding lever pivoted on saidframe, a first stock gripper on said lever, a second stock gripper onsaid frame, an oscillating shaft in said frame, a cam driven by saidshaft, cam follower means connected to said lever for retracting saidlever from the frame under action of said cam, a pneumatic cylinder andpiston assembly connected between said frame and lever for advancingsaid lever when said cam permits, first means driven by saidshaft'operably connected to said grippers for closing said first gripperand opening said second gripper after said lever reaches its retractedposition, and second means driven by said shaft operably connected tosaid grippers for opening Said first gripper and closing `said secondgripper after said lever reaches its advanced position.

3. Apparatus for feeding elongated stock against a stock gaugecomprising a frame having a stock receiving aperture therein, a stockfeeding member movably mounted on said frame, a stock feeding gripper onsaid stock feeding member, a stock holding gripper supported on saidframe, power means for retracting said feeding member away from saidframe, an air piston and cylinder assembly connected between said frameand stock feeding member, means for continuously supplying air underpressure to said cylinder for advancing said feeding member toward saidframe, first means operably connected to said grippers for closing saidstock feeding gripper and opening said stock holding gripper after saidfeeding member reaches its retracted position, and second means operablyconnected to said grippers for opening said stock feeding gripper andclosing said stock holding gripper after said feeding member reaches itsadvanced position.

4. Apparatus for feeding elongated stock against a stock gaugecomprising a frame having a stock receiving aperture therein, a stockfeeding member movably mounted on said frame, a stock feeding gripper onsaid stock feeding member, a stock holding gripper supported on saidframe, a cam shaft in said frame carrying a cam, a cam follower andlinkage for positively retracting said feeding member away from saidframe, an air piston and cylinder assembly connected between said frameand stock feeding member, means for continuously supplying air underpressure to said cylinder for advancing said feeding member toward saidframe, first means operably connected to said grippers for closing saidstock feeding gripper and opening said stock holding gripper after saidfeeding member reaches its retracted position, and sec* ond meansoperably connected to said grippers for open ing said stock feedinggripper and closing said stock holding gripper after said feeding memberreaches its advanced position.

5. Metal working apparatus comprising a frame having a stock receivingaperture therein, a stock gauge mounted on said frame, a stock feedingmember movably mounted on said frame, a stock feeding gripper on saidstock feeding member, a stock holding gripper supported on said frame,means for retracting said feeding member away from said frame, an airpiston and cylinder assembly connected between said frame and stockfeeding member, means for continuously supplying air under pressure tosaid cylinder for advancing said feeding member toward said frame, firstmeans operably connected to said grippers for closing said stock feedinggripper and opening said stock holding gripper as said feeding memberadvances the stock toward said gauge under action of said air piston,and second means operably connected to said grippers for opening saidstock holding gripper after said piston and cylinder assembaly haspressed the stock carried by the gripper on said feeding member againstthe stock gauge.

6. Apparatus for intermittently feeding rod stock into a metal workingmachine comprising a frame, a stock receiving bore in said frame, astock gauge mounted transversely of said bore to engage the end of ,therod stock being fed, an oscillating feed lever pivotally mounted in theframe below said bore on a pivot axis extending transversely withrespect to the axis of said bore, a pair of co-operating grip jawsoperatively connected to the upper end of said feed lever in alignmentwith said bore and being adapted to grip the rod stock being fed intothe bore, grip jaw actuating means operatively connected to said gripjaws and movable therewith toward and away from said bore to effectalternate grip and release of the grip jaws on the stock as the griplever is oscillated, a cam shaft mounted on the frame on an axisparallel to said feed lever axis, a feed lever crank carried by theframe, a link connecting said crank and feed lever to oscillate thelever and move the grip jaws carried thereby toward and away from saidbore, a pair of opposed stock holding jaws mounted on the frame betweenthe feed lever and the bore, a cam on said cam shaft, grip jaw controlmeans in the path of said cam, said control means being connected tosaid grip jaw actuating means whereby said grip jaws engage the stockwhen the lever is remote from the holding jaws and the stock is releasedby the grip jaws when adjacent the holding jaws with the end of thestock against said stock gauge.

7. Stock feeding apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the grip jawactuating means includes an air cylinder.

8. Apparatus for intermittently feeding rod stock into a metal workingmachine comprising a frame, a stock re- 7 ceiving bore in the frame, astock gauge mounted within the frame transversely of said bore to engagethe end of the stock being fed therein, a stock feeding lever mountedfor oscillation on a shaft beneath said bore, a lever actuating crankmounted on said frame, a link connecting said crank to said lever formoving the upper end of said lever toward and away from said bore, apair of co-operating grip jaws carried by said lever in alignment withsaid bore, a pair of oposed holding jaws mounted on the frame betweensaid bore and said lever tointermittently hold the stock being fed intothe machine by said grip jaws, grip jaw actuating means operativelyconnected to said grip jaws to effect grip or release of the stock bysaid grip jaws, a cam shaft mounted in said frame for rotation about anaxis parallel to the pivotal axis of said lever, grip jaw control meansin the, path of a cam member carried by said cam shaft, said controlmeans being operatively connected to said grip jaw actu- ReferencesCited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 635,215 WhiteOct. 17, 1899 2,093,112 Montgomery Sept. 14, 1937 v2,250,530 HafecostJuly 29, 1941 2,257,450 Barnes Sept. 30, 1941 2,460,340 -Dickerman Feb.l, 1949 2,576,114 `Hibbard Nov. 27, 1951 .2,622,874 Haller Dec. 23, 1952

